Insane Love: Gotham Story
by mysteryfan4ever
Summary: Quinn Young grew up in Haly's Circus along with twins Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska, who became her two best friends. But when tensions rise between the brothers, a force is soon driven between the trio and things soon turn sour.
1. Chapter 1

**After watching the first few episodes of Gotham, I started getting into the show. I especially love the episodes with Edward Nygma/The Riddler, Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska and the Sirens. Also, the Nygmopplepot shipping is adorable, I love Ossie and Eddie as a couple. I decided to write my own Gotham fan-fiction story, to see if I would be any good at it. Also, I was finally able to find a site and watch the latest episode of Gotham, 5x07 Ace Chemicals and I enjoyed it, but I have to say, WTF did they do with Jeremiah's face? I understand they want to make it nostalgic, because that was the Joker's origins, but he already had the Joker makeup when he got sprayed with the Insanity Gas so to me it was a little pointless. Anyway, this is my story, and I only own my own characters.**

THE CAST

Anya Taylor Joy as Quinn Young

Cameron Monaghan as Jerome Valeska and Jeremiah Valeska

Ben McKenzie as Jim Gordon

Donal Logue as Harvey Bullock

David Mazouz as Bruce Wayne

Sean Pertwee as Alfred Pennyworth

Camren Bicondova as Selina Kyle

Erin Richards as Barbara Kean

Cory Michael Smith as Edward Nygma/The Riddler

Robin Taylor as Oswald Cobblepot/Penguin

Cailey Fleming as Young Quinn Young

Lana Parrilla as Claire Young

Jeremy Piven as David Young

**The rest of the Gotham's cast as their own respectful characters.**


	2. Kansas City

Kansas City

"8, 9, 10, ready or not here I come," Jerome announced. Jerome Valeska was currently playing hide and seek with his best friend, Quinn Young, while their mothers were in the big tent practicing for the show in a few hours. Quinn was in the bushes covering her mouth, trying to keep herself from giggling. Quinn could hear his footsteps getting closer and closer. Then two arms reached out for her from behind and grabbed her shoulders, making her yelp in surprise.

"Found you," Jerome shouted, as Quinn's face came into view.

"Nu-uh," Quinn teased as she quickly pulled herself away from Jerome and tried to run away.

Jerome quickly caught her waist and started tickling her, making her go limp in his arms.

"Jerome, stop, please!" Quinn gasped laughing.

"Say that I won!" Jerome chuckled as he kept tickling her stomach.

"Okay, okay, you win." Quinn admitted through hiccup giggles.

"Now that wasn't so hard," Jerome smirked, as he finally stopped and let Quinn catch her breath, she pretended to be mad at Jerome, but she couldn't stop smiling.

Quinn Young was raised in the circus, along with her two best friends, Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska, who were only a couple years older than her. Her mother was an acrobat in the show and her father worked at one of the food stands. She also had an older sister, but she moved in with her boyfriend, so she was never around which was completely fine by Quinn and the twins, because she was a snotty brat.

"Quinn!" shouted an obnoxious voice.

They turned around to the direction of the voice, Quinn sighed deeply knowing her father needed her for something, "He always has to ruin everyone's fun. I'm sorry Jerome, but I better go see what he wants, because if I don't, he'll continue yelling and his voice sounds like a screaming goat."

Jerome chuckled lightly, "So does my mom."

"I'll come find you later and then we can play tag." Quinn told him.

Jerome gave Quinn a soft smile and nodded. Quinn smiled back and softly said, "Thank you," and headed towards the stands.

About an hour later, Quinn was walking around the circus grounds with an irritated look on her face. It turned out that her father wanted her to hold an old wobbly ladder for him while he put up a sign on one of the stands.

"Ugh, he wouldn't have this problem if he wasn't so cheap and buy a more safe ladder," Quinn muttered annoyed, "Not to mention a little exercise would do him some good. What a lardbutt!"

Quinn was so irritated with her father she wasn't paying attention when she bumped into someone else, making them fall over. Quinn saw it was Jerome's twin brother, Jeremiah.

"Ouch," Jeremiah said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh, Jeremiah, I'm so sorry," Quinn exclaimed standing up and picking up what she made him drop on the ground, which Quinn noticed that they looked like more maze designs.

Jerome and Jeremiah may have been twins, but it was easy to tell them apart, besides that Jeremiah wore glasses. Jerome's hair was usually unkempt and messy and his clothes were a bit wrinkly, while Jeremiah liked to keep his hair and clothes neat and well-balanced.

"I'm really sorry for bumping into you," Quinn apologized again, "I just had something on my mind." Then before handing his drawings back to him, she threw her arms around Jeremiah, and says, "By the way, Happy Birthday, Miah!"

"Thanks," Jeremiah replies, hugging Quinn back.

"Where are you going?" Jeremiah asked.

"I'm looking for Jerome. Have you seen him?" Quinn asked.

Jeremiah gave a deep frown when Quinn said that she was looking for his brother, but with reluctance he pointed in a direction. "I saw him back at the trailer."

"Thank you so much, Miah," Quinn said with a soft smile, and was about to head in the direction, but Jeremiah grabbed her hand with his own to stop her.

"And Quinn, please don't tell Jerome you've spoken to me," Jeremiah tells her.

"What? Why?" Quinn asked with a confused look.

Jeremiah gave her a sad sigh, "Because he likes you."

"What's wrong with that? You like me too, don't you?" Quinn asked not seeing what the problem is.

"Yes, of course I like you a lot and I care about you too," Jeremiah insisted, "But he wouldn't like it if he knew I was talking with you."

Quinn just shrugged her shoulders, not seeing the big deal, said, "Fine, I won't mention that I talk to you, I promise."

"Thank you Quinn," Jeremiah smiles, before letting go of her hand nervously.

"I'll see you around, Miah. Once again, Happy Birthday!" Quinn smiled, before giving Jeremiah one last hug and then she left to find Jerome.

When Quinn reached Jerome's and Jeremiah's trailer, she noticed Mr. Cicero, the blind fortune teller, slowly walking away from Jerome. As Quinn started walking over to him, he sees her, his eyes are filled with sadness. Her mind wandered to Lila Valeska, Jerome's and Jeremiah's mother, and a very cruel and awful woman. Quinn's mother calls her a word that she would never use in front of the children and she also calls her a few other things.

When Quinn got closer, Jerome quickly wipes away the tears from his face so Quinn doesn't seem him crying and avoids eye contact with her, while his whole body was shaking on the ground.

"Jerome?" Quinn tried, her voice filled with worry and concern as she sits down next to him. When she gently puts a hand on his shoulder he looks up at her she notices bruises on his face and blood flowing through his nose.

"Oh my God," Quinn whispered, horrified at the sight of Jerome's battered and bruised face.

"Don't worry, I'm fine Quinn. Really," he insisted, as his cheeks flushed bright red, even though Quinn would never judge him for something like this.

"We both know that's not true, Jerome," Quinn frowned sadly. "It's okay, you can tell me."

"My mom's been messing around with some guy," Jerome muttered sadly.

"That's it! You're staying with me," Quinn decides, "And if your mom and my dad have a problem with it, who cares."

"That wouldn't be possible," Jerome told her sadly.

"But Jerome, I hate it when she hurts you like this," Quinn told him with an upset look.

"She also forgot about my birthday today. I'm nine, and she doesn't even care," Jerome sniffed with more tears running down his face. "And Mr. Cicero said that this world doesn't care about me or anyone else and it was better to realize that now."

Quinn pulled out her handkerchief from jacket pocket and gave it to Jerome, who whispered, thanks. She then wrapped her arms around Jerome in a protective manner.

"Jerome, if she doesn't care about your birthday, screw her, she's just an awful person spreading sadness and like my mom told me her life will end miserably someday. As for what Mr. Cicero said, well, he's wrong, because there's someone who does care about you and your birthday," Quinn said with a small smile.

"Who's that?" Jerome asked, looking up with a tear-stained, but hopeful face.

Quinn gave a small hint of mischief in her brown eyes, as she got up and held out her hand for Jerome and said, "Come with me to my trailer and I'll show you. We need to clean you up anyway."

Jerome looked up at Quinn and grabbed her hand with a smile on his face.

The first thing they did when they got to Quinn's trailer was clean the blood off his face and Quinn made an ice pack for Jerome to use on his bruised face.

Quinn then grabbed a chair to help her reach the refrigerator were two white boxes were sitting and pulled one of them off the refrigerator.

"Ta-da," Quinn said gleefully, as she set the box down in front of him and opened the lid to reveal a chocolate cake that was written badly in chocolate, Happy Birthday Jerome! Quinn had also made another cake for Jeremiah, except his cake had white frosting and spelled, Happy Birthday Jeremiah!

Quinn looked down at the table nervously, playing with her fingernails, "I know, I know the writing is awful, but I didn't have enough money to buy any of the cakes I saw, so my mom gave me the cake recipe and when I tried to-"

Jerome quickly cut her off by pulling her into a big hug, a few seconds later Quinn wrapped her arms around Jerome too.

"This cake is amazing. Thank you," Jerome sighs happily, still not letting go.

"Sure thing," Quinn smiled softly as she gently ran her fingers through his ginger hair.

They pull away from each other, Jerome gives her another small smile but then he frowned. Jerome's emotions and his mood would change like clockwork, something that Quinn would sometimes notice, but who would blame him? His mother was abusive towards him, some of her lovers were abusive too, so was his uncle, and Jeremiah never did anything to help him, which would bother Quinn. Growing up in a circus, especially with them each having a terrible parent, was very hard for Quinn and the twins. Claire, Quinn's mother, would do her best to help her daughter and even her two friends, but sometimes with how her job as an acrobat would get stressful on her and since Jerome and Jeremiah weren't her kids there was only so much she could do. David, Quinn's father, just didn't care about Quinn; he only cared about her snotty older sister and wanted Quinn gone from his life.

Quinn's face fell a little, "What's wrong? I thought you said you liked the cake?"

"It's not that, it's just, I wish we didn't have to get drag through the circus," Jerome told Quinn sadly.

"I know, I hate it here too," Quinn agreed sighing sadly, "But one day we'll be able to leave this place behind for good; even if we don't leave at the same time, let's make a promise that we'll do everything to get the other person out of here."

Jerome's face lit up again as he smiled at Quinn, "Definitely."

"Why don't we get out of this place for the rest of the day and go somewhere fun in the city, I know Kansas City isn't too exciting, but we can find something to do or do you want to eat the cake now?" Quinn asked smiling back at Jerome.

"I would love that more than anything," Jerome said with a bright smile, "Let's go."

Quinn quickly closed the box lid and put Jerome's birthday back on top of the refrigerator, and then she and Jerome headed off into the city to spend the rest of day there together.


	3. Snickerdoodles, Abuse and Comfort

**I saw Gotham 5x08, the one when the Ventriloquist appears and I have to say I'm kind of disappointed with how they killed him off at the end of the episode. I have a feeling they'll bring him back, but still it's just too soon. I'm starting to have mixed feelings about Season 5. I love how they introduced new Villains like Bane, The Ventriloquist and Scarface, and Mother and Orphan, whom I didn't know who they were when they showed them at the end of Season 4. I also liked the return of Jeremiah and Ecco and how Bruce is working more with Jim Gordon and Selina becoming closer as Catwoman and I'm also excited to see more of Ivy, I really wasn't expecting her to be the alleged witch Bruce was searching for. But there are some things I didn't like, such as Tabitha's death, I know she killed Penguin's mom, but aside from that I really liked Tabby. And I'm still disappointed with what happened to Jeremiah, him falling into the chemicals and being put in a coma. I know they were being nostalgic, and I respect that, but I thought Jeremiah's Joker design looked perfect, no changes needed. I almost forgot, does anyone else think Jeremiah (Cameron) looks hot in the Zorro costume? Well, here's the next chapter.**

Snickerdoodles, Abuse, and Comfort

It's been six months, since they were in Kansas City and now Haly's Circus was now doing a show in Nashville, Tennessee. Quinn was just finishing feeding and giving water to the animals in the petting zoo.

"Finally I'm finished," Quinn said with a relieved grin and said to herself, "You know, one would think the ones who own these animals would be the ones to take care of them, because it really should be their job. Oh well, time for me to go find Jerome or Jeremiah, hopefully they're not too busy."

As Quinn walked around the grounds looking for her friends, she heard a scream in the distance, which sounded like Jerome or Jeremiah and it sounded like they were in pain. Quinn was running as fast as she could towards the scream when she stopped and saw Jeremiah smiling at something. When she turned to look it was at the twins' trailer when she ran inside she saw their Uncle Zack dipping Jerome's hand in a pot of boiling chicken stock.

Jerome and Jeremiah apparently thought it would be fun to dare each other to sneak into their uncle's chuck wagon to steal a cookie or two. Their uncle caught Jerome trying to take one of his snickerdoodles, so he decided to dip his hand in a pot of boiling soup to teach him a lesson.

"Maybe this will teach you a lesson," Zack growled over Jerome's crying and pleading.

"Get away from him!" Quinn shouted.

Zack gave the girl a small glance, "Get out of here, kid."

"No," Quinn snapped, and she ran and pushed him as hard as she could, which was just enough to make Zack let go of his nephew's hand.

The man picked up the girl and threw her violently onto the floor as if she was a rag doll, when her body hit the floor, her arm made a horrible cracking sound, which made her cry out in pain. Before he could grab Quinn again, Jerome got to his feet and with his good hand he grab the pot of boiling soup and threw it on his uncle making him yell and cry in pain. Jerome then grabbed Quinn's good arm and pulled her up.

"Quinn, come on," Jerome told her and they sprinted out as fast they could.

When they were sure they were far away from him, they stopped to breathe, but Quinn was too busy crying and cradling her arm.

"Quinn, let me see your arm, please" Jerome said, gently.

Quinn sticks out her injured arm, nervously, and he smiles at her response and slowly and gently pulls up her sleeve, revealing her swollen arm.

"Your arm is broken very badly," Jerome frowned.

"Let's tell my mom about this," Quinn declared.

"Good idea," Jerome agreed with a nod.

Quinn and Jerome quickly headed for her trailer where they found Quinn's mother sitting outside enjoying the warm weather. When Claire Young saw the look on the children's faces she knew something was wrong, she quickly got up from her chair and ran towards them.

"Quinn, Jerome. Kids what happened?" Claire asked with a concerned voice.

Quinn was too busy crying in pain to give a proper answer so Jerome told her mom what happened, by the time he finished. Claire had a very angry and irritated look on her face before she decides to call a cab take them both to a nearby hospital to get them treated, but first she gives an ice pack to her daughter to use on her arm and gives Jerome a container of cool water for him to soak his hand.

When they got to the hospital they fortunately didn't have to wait very long. The doctor who treated them both suggested that they both stay overnight to make sure they didn't have any infection or extensive pain from their injuries, much to both of their relief considering that both of them were scared of Zack, especially Jerome.

While they were at the hospital, Claire confronted both Lila and Zack for what he did to her daughter and his nephew. They of course, made terrible excuses about it saying how Zack was giving him what he deserved and saying how Quinn getting hurt was her own fault.

"Stop making excuses for yourself, both of you!" Claire snarled at them, she turned her attention to Zack and gave him a hard slap, "How dare you do that to your nephew! And how dare you harm my child!"

"What about me? Just look what that boy did to me," Zack complained gesturing to his still red and pained right arm and side.

"I think you look great," Claire sneered with an icy glare.

"Hey, he was-," Lila interrupted, but Claire cut her off.

"No you don't get to speak, Lila Valeska," Claire snapped at the snake dancer, "You don't get to have a saying in this. The only reason why I haven't called the police already is because the police department here is run by incompetent fools. But make no mistake about this if I find out either of you have been hurting Jerome or Jeremiah, and especially my daughter again, I will destroy you both if it is the last thing I do. Goodbye Mrs. Valeska, Mr. Trumball."

That night at the hospital, while Jerome and Quinn were sleeping, a small shadowy figure came into their room. The figure looked at where Jerome was sleeping and sends him a sharp icy glare and then looked over to where Quinn was and smiled softly at her. He pulled out a red carnation and set on the small table next to her bed.

"I'm sorry, Quinn," the shadowy figure whispered.

Then being careful not to wake her, he leaned down and gently kissed her cheek softly, Quinn was smiling unconsciously at that. With one last gentle smile at Quinn, the figure crept quietly out of the hospital room.


	4. The Call of Motherly Love

**Has anyone else notice the way Jeremiah acts in Season 5 is different from how he was in Season 4. I actually like Jeremiah better in Season 4, I felt it gave a different Joker personality, a cool, calm, and collected attitude and now Jeremiah is acting similar to his brother, Jerome, except more crazy. This chapter mostly focuses on Quinn's mother, Claire Young. Enjoy!**

The Call of Motherly Love

Claire Young may have never divorced her husband, David, but nobody would disagree that she raised her younger daughter, Quinn, by herself. For some unknown reason, Quinn's father never cared about Quinn, not unless he needed someone to do work for him; all he cared about was her older sister, Molly and Quinn was overlooked by her father all her life. Before Molly moved in with her boyfriend she would love to get Quinn in trouble and make up lies about her younger sister to try to manipulate her parents. David, of course, took Molly's side and when Quinn would try to speak out he would yell at her and not give her a chance to talk. When Quinn told her mother what happen, not only would her mom listen to her younger daughter, but she also told Quinn that she never believed Molly, that she knew she was an instigator. Also when Quinn was only four, Molly would sometimes take advantage of her by treating her more like a servant instead of a sister, until Jerome and Jeremiah came along and stood up for Quinn.

Claire was very thankful that Jerome and Jeremiah became Quinn's friends. She was also very sorry that they had a good for nothing whore of a mother; to Claire, Lila was a pathetic embarrassment to mothers everywhere, which would make Claire take it upon herself to protect and look after the twins. Every time Lila was too drunk or banging a man, which was happening quite regularly, Claire was always there for Jerome and Jeremiah, as she was for Quinn, and the twins also saw Claire more of their mother than Lila.

"Quinn, Quinn, dear, where are you?" Claire called for her daughter.

Haley's Circus was currently in Boston, Massachusetts and it was a warm day. Quinn was currently in the animal tent, petting one of the elephant's trunks as she ignored her mother calling for her. Quinn was giggling as the elephant wrapped his trunk around the girl's stomach in a comforting manner.

Jerome had gotten beaten again, which was happening almost every day. No matter how many times Jerome told her not to worry about it or it was no big deal, she couldn't. She just hated it whenever his mother or his uncle was hurting him. When Quinn saw Jerome's nose bleeding, she tried kicking Lila, which earned her a black eye. Quinn had suspected that Jerome had it was worse, because Lila dragged him into the trailer.

When Claire found Quinn she ran up to hug her, but when she turned her daughter around to face her, her eyes were greeted with a shock. As she was looking at her daughter's face, her eyes laid on her daughter's bruised eye.

"Quinn? Quinn, baby, what happened to your eye?" her mother asked, trying to hold back her anger.

"I-I just ran into a pole when Jerome, Jeremiah, and I were playing tag," Quinn lied as she looked down at the ground, her eyes avoiding her mother's.

Her mother instantly saw through her daughter's lie. Claire gently cupped Quinn's face in her hands and kissed both her cheeks, making her daughter smile in response.

"Quinn, you understand you can tell me anything, don't you?" Claire said, gently, "And I promise it'll be just between us, if you don't want anyone else to know. I can't always promise it will be that way, but I'll try and make an exception and make it better."

Quinn knew what Lila had been doing was downright wrong; she wanted desperately to tell someone, but at the same time she was scared of what would happen if she told anyone. Jerome once told Quinn that if she told anyone it would make everything worse.

"Okay, it was Jerome's mom," Quinn admitted, "She gave him a bloody nose, and I was so mad I kicked her in the shin. She got mad at me and punched my eye," she explained pointing to her bruised eye, "I know you've always told me not to hurt people and to be the better person, but she was really mean, mommy."

Quinn could feel her mother's anger growing as she was explaining the whole thing, but she knew it was directed at Lila, not to her.

_I told that slutty, skanky whore, what I would do if she or her brother harmed my daughter or the twins again. But I guess action speaks louder than words._ Claire thought to herself as she clenched her hands into fists.

"I hate her, mommy, I know I shouldn't, but she's so mean and she's been hurting him more often, I just lost my temper," Quinn said as tears ran down her cheeks.

Her mother smiled gently at her as she was brushing her daughter's tears away and then she was wrapping one arm around her protectively, while stroking her chocolate brown hair gently with her other arm.

"Quinn, dear, you said that Lila has been **hurting Jerome more often**. Are you saying Lila has been doing this more times before?" Claire asked while trying to control the anger in her voice.

"Yes, mommy she's done more times than I could count or remember," Quinn told her.

As she clenched her hands trying to control inside her, she smiled calmly at her daughter, "You're right Quinn, that was very mean for her to do, but don't worry I'll handle her. But first, I have something to get."

And that's when Claire grabbed her daughter's hand and walked her to their trailer, where Claire first gave her daughter an ice pack for her bruised eye and then she grabbed a bat and a big bottle of her husband's bourbon. Then grabbing her daughter's hand with her other hand, Claire was practically dragging her daughter to the Valeskas' trailer. When they got closer, a horrible ranking smell reached their noses it didn't take them long to catch on the stench of alcohol and sex.

Jerome and Jeremiah were both sitting outside the trailer, being busy with different things without speaking a word to each other. Jeremiah was drawing a new maze, while Jerome was treating his wounds with some alcohol and bandages, while at the same time trying to press some ice against his injured nose.

They both looked up when they heard the sound of footsteps coming towards them, though one pair sounded like angry stomping. They saw their best friend Quinn Young and her mother, Claire, approaching them; Jerome and Jeremiah sent Quinn a confused look.

"Boys, where's your-"Claire began to ask in a calm, gentle voice, but was cut off in an instant.

The trailer door was practically thrown open, and the two boys quickly got to their feet and stood next to Quinn. Lila stumbled out, hardly wearing anything. In her drunken state, Lila was very slow and she barely recognized the woman in front of her. She was hiccuping from drunken state as she attempted to compose herself, but she was failing miserably. Claire then instantly swung the bat, hitting Lila hard in the face and knocking her hard to the ground.

"That was for hurting my daughter, you filthy skank," Claire shouted, "This is for harming your own son," she delivers a blow to her midriff, "And this is for being a pathetic embarrassment to mothers everywhere," she then delivers a final blow to her upper torso.

Thankfully, Lila still didn't know who hit her, as she was too drunk, and quickly passed out. Claire then opened the bottle of bourbon and poured it all over Lila. Just then, Owen Lloyd was walking up to the trailer and stared open-mouthed at what he was seeing.

"What the hell are you doing?" Owen stammered at Claire.

"Pouring drinks," Claire answered in a casual tone.

"You're crazy, lady," Owen snapped at her.

"No, she is, if she thinks she can get away with harming my daughter, let alone her own children. And if you breathe a word about this, I'm coming for you too," Claire threatened, "Because mister you people have no idea what a mother's love is capable of."

Claire then walked away from the trailer with her daughter and her two friends following. Quinn was smiling happily at her mother, while the twins were gawking at her; one of them was giving a huge grin, feeling happier than before.

"That was awesome!" Jerome yelled, his eyes sparkling with unrecognizable delight, "Your mom is incredible, Quinn." It felt good to Jerome to for once see his mother getting hurt, instead of him; but little did they know, this one action would begin some thoughts running through Jerome's mind, that would change everything.

"I know," Quinn said with a smirk.

Claire then turned to look at Quinn, Jerome and Jeremiah, and said with a kind smile, "Now, who wants ice cream?"


	5. Sweet or Psycho

**Author's Note: I'm going to try and remember to respond to any comments in the comment section. I realized that it's probably a good idea to respond to my readers, so I'm going to try to get into the habit of replying to any comments readers have.**

**Fun Fact: Quinn's birthday is four months apart from Jerome's and Jeremiah's birthday.**

Sweet or Psycho

It now was Jerome's and Jeremiah's tenth birthday and Haly's Circus was back in Kansas City. Quinn and her mother, Claire, decided to celebrate their birthday by making the twins their favorite meals, as well as a birthday cake, they were currently in the kitchen getting everything ready for tonight and since it was a day that they weren't doing any shows it would be the perfect time to take advantage of it.

"I hope Jerome and Jeremiah will love their birthday dinners and birthday cake," Quinn said as she was frosting the cake.

"I don't see why they wouldn't Quinn," her mom said with a smile as she was peeling potatoes. "They've eaten with us before. I know we usually go out for your birthdays, except for like the twins' birthdays last year, but I was too exhausted from the show and I thought it was time we would start trying something new to celebrate, not only your own birthday, but for the twins as well."

"It's okay Mom, we understand that you can get very tired from the shows, especially since you're an acrobat in the show," Quinn reassured her mother.

"Could you check to see if the lasagna noodles are done?" Claire asked.

"Sure thing, I'm almost done with frosting the cake anyway, all there's left is for me to write Happy Birthday," Quinn said as she set the knife down to check in the noodles. "They're ready, mom."

"Okay, now could you drain the water out for me?" her mom asked her.

"No problem," Quinn said, and did what her mother asked.

Quinn and her mom have been cooking and baking together since Quinn was five; it was their favorite bonding time. They finally finished preparing the food around late afternoon. They made baked chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans for Jerome and lasagna and garlic bread for Jeremiah, they also made raspberry lemonade to drink and a chocolate birthday cake.

By the time came for them to set everything on the picnic table for the twins' birthday dinner, it was around 5:00. After everything was all set and ready, Quinn ran off to find Jerome and Jeremiah. Claire asked her husband if he wanted to be joining in the birthday celebration, but as usual he declined, he wanted to watch ball games and some of his movies, though nobody was surprised, so it was just the four of them enjoying eating dinner together, and everything seem to be going perfect.

After they were all finished, Claire packed up the left-overs and gave them to the twins and told them to put them in their refrigerator. Quinn and the twins were going to play together for a while before it was time for cake. Quinn waited for Jerome and Jeremiah to come back, but after waiting for an hour she started getting worried and decided to go over to their trailer to see what was holding them up.

When Quinn arrived at their trailer she knocked on the door, hoping that Jerome or Jeremiah would answer, but when the door opened it, Quinn's heart sank when she saw Lila with a glass of scotch in her hand.

"What do you want?" Lila asked, rudely.

"Where are Jerome and Jeremiah? I've been waiting for an hour for them to come back so that we could play," Quinn said trying to keep calm around the hateful woman.

"They can't come," Lila replied with an obnoxious tone.

"Why?" Quinn asked folding her arms and raising an eyebrow with suspicion.

Knowing Quinn would tell her mother, if she didn't say anything, Lila reluctantly told her, "Jerome had a cake knife to Jeremiah's throat. Jerome isn't allowed to leave the trailer for the rest of day, and my Jeremiah is still in shock about what happened to him. You'll have to come back tomorrow, now, go away." And with that Lila slammed the door on her face.

Quinn just stood there confused and bewildered at what Lila had just told her, everything about what she was told didn't seem right. _Jerome held a knife to Jeremiah's throat? That can't be true. That's crazy talk. I've known Jerome and Jeremiah, since I was four; I know they don't always get along and sometimes dislike each other, but Jerome would never hurt his brother like that and surely Jeremiah wouldn't make up a story like that or he could've been over-reacting._

"I better tell Mom about this right away," Quinn said to herself, "She'll definitely want to hear about this."

When Quinn came back to her mom, she told her mom what Lila just told her.

Claire frowned at what her daughter told her, "No, you're right, Quinn, it certainly doesn't seem right. I know I don't know your friends as well as you do, but still something is not right."

"Do you think Lila could've been making it up?" Quinn suggested.

"Honey, you can't think or suggest something without proof," her mom said, "Besides you know you can't just confront Lila without any evidence, it could create some serious problems."

"Jerome would tell me that a lot," Quinn replied.

"And he's right, sweetie," Claire said to her daughter, "And Quinn, before I forget to tell you this, when you see Jerome and Jeremiah again, I wouldn't ask them anything about what happened, especially if it will just upset them both and it could create more friction between them. Do you understand, Quinn?"

"Yes, mom," Quinn said.

"Good. Now let's put their birthday cake away, so the four of us can enjoy it tomorrow," Claire said to her daughter.

It's been a few weeks since Jerome's and Jeremiah's tenth birthday, and tensions have been rising higher between the brothers and friction between them has been increasing more than usual. It seemed to Quinn that whenever she saw Jerome and Jeremiah together they would be constantly at each other's throats.

They were currently on the outskirts of Chicago, one night, Jeremiah went to Quinn's trailer to wake her up, and he wanted to tell her something important, especially if he wasn't going to ever see her again or at least for a while.

Jeremiah slowly and quietly opened the door, careful not to wake up Quinn's parents. Then he crept quietly to where Quinn was sleeping, Jeremiah couldn't help but smile at her sleeping form.

"Quinn, Quinn, wake up," Jeremiah whispered, shaking Quinn gently.

"Huh ugh, Jeremiah, let sleeping girls lie," Quinn said sleepily, feeling slightly cranky being woken up in the middle of the night.

"I'm sorry, Quinn. But I can't wait to tell you this, it's too important," Jeremiah told her.

"What is so important that you had to wake up in the middle of the night to tell me?" Quinn asked slightly grouchy.

"Well it's complicated, but Quinn, I need you to promise me that you won't tell Jerome about this, any of this," Jeremiah warns me, his warm soft hands grab Quinn's.

"Why not?" Quinn asked sleepily, as Jeremiah sighs sadly.

"Jerome obviously likes you, Quinn and I mean he likes you likes you. And he definitely won't be happy with what I'm about to tell you, he would be furious, and I can't let him know or let him find out about any of this. I don't want him to take you from me," Jeremiah explains. Quinn couldn't help but frown at the last part of what he said. _What does he mean by that?_

"Okay, then I won't tell him," Quinn promised.

"Thank you," he smiles, before going back to his original nervous expression. "I need to tell you something, but it won't make sense unless if I actually show it to you, first."

He lets out an exasperated groan, before suddenly leaning forward, his pale pink lips capturing Quinn's own lips.

Quinn stands there in shock with wide eyes, and Jeremiah quickly pulls away, getting nervous again, "I-I'm so sorry! I-I should've asked you first, I'm so-"

"Jeremiah, calm down. It's okay," Quinn giggles, slightly blushing, and Jeremiah smiles at her. But then his smile fades and his facial expression changes into something sad.

"I love you and I care about you, Quinn. I really do. And I'm really sorry about this," Jeremiah apologized.

"About what? Kissing me? Jeremiah I told you it is okay," Quinn assured him.

"No, no, it's something else, more complicated," Jeremiah said frowning, "I'm sorry Quinn, but I have to go.

Before Quinn could even say a word, Jeremiah turns around and walks out of the trailer, leaving a confounded Quinn behind._ What was he talking about? What did he mean about Jerome taking me away from him? Oh well, I'll ask him about it tomorrow._ Quinn then snuggled down in her bed and went back to sleep. But little does Quinn know is that that would be the last time she'll ever see Jeremiah, at least not for a long time.


	6. Water Playing and Mirror Mazes

**Fun Fact: When Quinn is older, she hopes to travel to Greece, Ireland and England.**

Water Playing and Mirror Houses

The next day, when Quinn searched around the whole circus grounds for Jeremiah, she couldn't find him anywhere and she became extremely worried and scared. Where was Jeremiah? What happened to him? When she asked Lila where Jeremiah was, she rudely told her it was none of her business. She also tried asking Jerome about it, but he got angry and snapped at her, telling her to never mention his brother's name again.

After looking for nearly three hours, Quinn collapsed on the ground she rolled up into a ball and began to cry. "Jeremiah, where are you?" she sobbed.

When Quinn told her mother about what happened last night, including Jeremiah kissing her. Claire tried making her daughter feel better by saying how if Jeremiah had spoke to Quinn before he ran away then that must mean he's okay. But Quinn wasn't so convinced and believed Jeremiah would tell her if he was going away somewhere, and also secretly worried that Lila had something to do with it, but remembering what her mother said, she couldn't accuse her without good enough proof and Lila would only deny it.

A couple weeks later, after Quinn finished her work she went to find Jerome. Jerome was filling the horses' drought when she found him.

"Need any help?" Quinn asked Jerome.

"Nah, it's not much. Although…" Jerome paused then said with a hint of mischief in his eyes, "Yeah, come over here."

Quinn approached him without hesitation when Jerome turned the hose to Quinn and sprayed her. Quinn yelped in surprise and backed away. "Jerome!"

Jerome just laughed at this, trying to splash her once more, he didn't react in time when Quinn took an empty bucket, passed it through the half-filled drought and splashed her best friend with it. Jerome stilled for a short instant, mouth open in a silent laugh, he huffed and Quinn laughed and was about to fill the bucket again when Jerome splashed her once more. They ran around, laughing and splashing each other. At one point, they were soaking wet, as their clothes clung to their bodies, and were almost out of breath, Jerome dropped the hose and rushed towards Quinn. Before she could react, Jerome wrapped his arms around her waist, and was dragging her toward the drought.

"No!" Quinn yelled

Quinn struggled, although she was still laughing, she didn't want to end up being thrown in the water. Quinn freed herself from Jerome, who tried to grab her again and started to run.

Quinn looked behind her and playfully yelled, "Catch me if you can!"

"Oh I will!" Jerome started to run after her, people around looked at them with amusement or annoyance but neither of them would care.

Jerome was a couple years older than Quinn and taller than her, so he was faster than Quinn and it didn't take long for him to catch Quinn. Then Jerome put his hands over her stomach, pushing her back against his chest, locking her in place.

"Jerome-" Quinn started.

Quinn sees his hands dart somewhere, and before she realized it she was crying and laughing at the same time.

"G-Get off of m-me. Y-You are so-soaking w-wet," Quinn said between giggles.

"So are you," Jerome chuckled.

"J-Jerome! S-Stop tickling m-me!" Quinn giggles.

"Say the magic word," Jerome teased in a sing song voice.

"Jerome Valeska is the most fun and good looking twin," Quinn squealed.

"Close enough," Jerome stopped and chuckled at her red cheeks, "But Quinn, listen I would appreciate if we not mention my brother or talk about him again."

Quinn nodded hesitantly; she didn't even need to ask why, since before Jeremiah left, the twins were fighting and at each other, especially Jerome, it seemed like Jeremiah did something to upset Jerome, but Quinn wasn't sure what it was.

A month later, Jerome and Quinn were playing hide and seek. As Quinn was looking for a perfect place to hide, she noticed the mirror house was opened. Without thinking, she went inside and realized it wasn't improved. It wasn't working at all Quinn guessed that the door had probably been left open after cleaning, or something, Quinn could smell a cleaning product, they probably left it open to let it all dry faster.

Quinn then slowly went inside and she would notice the light rays would grow dimmer and dimmer at each mirror; so darkness was slowly invading the whole place.

"Ah!" Quinn yelped in surprise as Jerome suddenly grabbed her by the shoulders.

Jerome was laughing heartily, "Found you!"

Quinn pushed him away playfully and was laughing as well. When the laughter died, Quinn looked at the room and Jerome understood what she was thinking, "Do you want to go exploring? It's pretty exciting!"

Quinn nodded and they started to venture inside. It was a little weird, in the daylight this was probably very ordinary but there was something weirdly mysterious here right now. Quinn was breathing silently, looking at everything around, what if she got lost? Wait…Where was Jerome? Quinn was hardly able to see anything in the dark.

"Oh Quinny…" The way Jerome was calling her send shivers in her entire body and was making her skin crawl, it was playful but a little spooky too, just like the mirror house, and it made him sound like The Boogeyman.

"Jerome? Jerome? This isn't funny, where are you…?" Quinn cried out "Stop trying to scare me!" Quinn could hear Jerome giggling but she couldn't see where she was, so not wanting to give Jerome the satisfaction of scaring her again she went farther into the mirror maze, "Quuuinnn…"

With a big grin on his face, Jerome was walking slowly and quietly, wanting to savor the suspense. Jerome liked scaring people, but with Quinn, it was even more fun. He was advancing slowly and felt the thrill he usually felt whenever he would try to sneak up on someone, which to him was all in good fun. As this was going through Jerome's mind, he soon realized he couldn't see Quinn anymore. Where was she? It didn't matter though he knew the mirror maze better than Quinn did.

"Where are you hiding…?" Jerome couldn't help but have his voice sound creepier than intended. He didn't want to scare her too much, just a little he only ever scared her for fun and playful teasing, because sometimes she would get scared easily.

Jerome could hear soft breathing he then saw slight moving and grinned. Quinn really needed to do better with hiding. Jerome silently walked toward her, Quinn's back was turned to him, which made it all the more fun. Jerome then slowly and quietly crept up on her and then grabbed her shoulder making her jolt in surprise.

"Ha! Ha! Gotcha!"

Quinn turned round to see Jerome behind her giggling happily. "Not funny, Jerome, you're such a jerk!" Quinn tried to be angry with him but started giggling with him.

"Aww, you know you love me, Quinn," Jerome smirked.

Their laughter died down and Jerome looked around, he thought he heard someone.

"Hello, is anybody in here?" They heard the voice of the owner and when they heard him say he was about to close the door, the two friends quickly ran outside.


	7. Close Friendships Become Love

**I was finally able to watch Gotham 5x12 and I have a few complaints about it. One, I like Barbara Kean's natural hair color better, I don't understand why they chose to have Barbara dye it red, aside from the comics, I know Barbara was a red head in the comics, but they changed some things for the show why couldn't they leave it alone? I just don't think Barbara Kean looks like Barbara Kean without her natural blonde hair. Second, when Bruce Wayne left Gotham why did he leave without saying a word to Selina? After everything they've been through together you would've think he would either tell Selina that he's leaving and why or asked her to come with him, I'm sorry but I just feel really bad for Selina. And last but not least, Jeremiah's new Joker look. I know I've mentioned this before, but I still hate his new look and since Jeremiah still sounds the same doesn't help. They said the new look was going to be a nightmare terror, well, he looks like he put on grandma's makeup wrong and it makes him look like he's old. ******When Jeremiah had his first Joker appearance he looked great, the green hair, pale white face, and a scary smile. Classic Joker. **So that's my rant of Gotham 5x12.**

**Fun Fact: Quinn doesn't like wearing makeup, except for lip balm when her lips feel sore and chap.**

Close Friendships Become Love

It was a warm summer day and Haley's Circus was in New York, since kids were out of school there were so many people at the circus the place was crowded than ever. It was a real pain for both Quinn and Jerome, especially since it was difficult for them to spend any time together without involving cleaning up after the animals, especially the elephants.

When it was getting closer to the end of the week, for the circus to pack up and leave. After a long day of many chores, Quinn went to the trailer and collapsed on her bed, as she thought of Jerome.

"Poor Jerome," Quinn said to herself, "It's bad enough he has so many chores to do every day, sometimes more than me, especially the dirty ones, but I hate the way his stupid mother treats him, what kind of mother beats up their own child? I wish I could talk to Mom about this, but she's been so exhausted all week, and she really needs to rest. I wish I could cheer Jerome up somehow, maybe we can do something fun, just the two of us." Then an idea hit her, Quinn thought of a perfect idea.

The next day, everyone was getting ready to leave tomorrow morning their last show was finally over. Then after Quinn got everything set and ready, she went to find Jerome. It didn't take long for her to find him as Jerome was standing outside his trailer. When Quinn got closer, she saw Jerome was holding a handkerchief to his nose and she saw his nose was bleeding and looked bruised.

"Oh my gosh, Jerome," Quinn gasped, clapping a hand to her mouth at the sight before her, "What happened?"

"My mom and her latest love partner," Jerome growled

Jerome suddenly started to laugh like crazy, despite the pain in his nose, holding his sides. Quinn watched him shocked with wide eyes, she never heard him laughing like this before and it was scaring her a little.

Jerome giggled and uttered, "The loving family! It's all just one big joke!"

He burst into a laugh again and Quinn felt crept out by this. It wasn't a nervous and desperate laugh. Jerome really seemed like he was laughing at the idea, which was worrying Quinn, because she had never seen this side of Jerome before. Fear began increasing inside her more, she wanted to run away, but no, she couldn't do that when her best friend needed her most, but lately she has been thinking how she wants to be more than just friends with Jerome, especially after Jeremiah disappeared their relationship became closer than they realized.

Quinn slowly advanced toward Jerome, and the redhead continued: "Come on, Quinn, laugh a little! It's much better if you laugh about it!"

But Quinn didn't laugh instead she put her hands on Jerome's shoulders, pressing them slightly, which was lessening the laugh from Jerome, and then Quinn just pulled him into a hug.

In spite of his confusion, Jerome found himself enjoying it, Quinn had hugged him plenty of times before, but he was enjoying it even more than before, as far as he remembered Quinn had been the only person to hug him like that. Usually, no one would care to help him, it was as if he was beneath those "decent people" and deserved no help, but Jerome always knew Quinn was different. It was actually quite comforting to feel her warmth, her presence, and her breathing. Jerome always enjoyed Quinn hugging him, but he realized lately it was more than usual. For him, it was good to hug each other, to hold her in his arms it made him feel like no one could take her away from him, and that nothing could tear them apart.

"Thanks," Jerome whispered.

Quinn smiled at him and then frowned, "Shoot, I had something planned, but now I don't know if you're up for it."

"What? What is it?" Jerome asked, sounding interested.

"I'll tell you," Quinn promised, "But first, how's your nose?"

Before Jerome could reply, Quinn gently prodded his nose, Jerome hissed in response.

"Come on let's get you an ice cold wet cloth," Quinn said leading him to her trailer.

"Quinn, it's fine, this is nothing," Jerome insisted.

"Not to me," Quinn responded, as they stepped inside.

The first thing Quinn was take a cloth and put it into ice cold water then gave it to Jerome to press against his nose. Then Quinn went to the medicine box and gave Jerome a bottle of Tylenol and a glass of water.

"Take two of these," Quinn told him.

"I'm fine Quinn. Like I told you I'm used to it," Jerome told her.

"Please Jerome I really hate seeing you like this. You shouldn't be used to this, it's not good," Quinn said tearfully, looking as if she was going to cry, which Jerome noticed.

"Alright, I'll take it, if it will make you feel better." Jerome surrendered, taking the Tylenol bottle and the glass of water. "Now what was it you wanted to do?"

"Well I thought that maybe you and I could have a picnic by the harbor docks today, since tomorrow we get back on the road," Quinn said.

Jerome then grabbed his stomach and acted like he had a stomach ache, "Oh, the pain," but when he looked at Quinn he was grinning.

Quinn rolled her eyes, and folded her arms across her chest, "Alright, ginger boy."

"No, no I would love to go," Jerome assured, "I wouldn't want to miss it."

"Are you sure, you feel well enough for it?" Quinn asked with concern still in her voice.

"Yes, absolutely," Jerome assured her, "You really should try smiling more."

"I do smile," Quinn said slightly offended, "I just can't help, but worry about you."

"But I do enjoy seeing you smile," Jerome said, cupping one hand in her cheek.

Quinn smiled at what he said, and then said, "Come on, I have everything ready."

Jerome and Quinn headed down to the docks to enjoy a picnic of fried chicken, potato salad, fruit salad, lemonade, and chocolate brownies. While enjoying their picnic, they looking out towards the river and whether realizing it or not their relationship was becoming closer than they realized.

A few months later, autumn had arrived and Haly's Circus was busy performing. As Jerome and Quinn were feeding the elephants, Jerome realized that tomorrow would be Quinn's 14th birthday and he wanted to do something special for it. Quinn was the only person at the circus, who he wanted to make happy. Jerome didn't really know what to give him, but then his eyes went somewhere and he smiled hugely.

Later that night, after they had birthday cake, which was red velvet, Quinn's favorite, Jerome told Quinn to follow him. Jerome led Quinn to an open deserted parking lot. Quinn gasped in amazement when she saw what was on the ground: fireworks.

"Go ahead, Quinn, do it," Jerome told her.

Giggling with excitement, Quinn took the thread and put it on fire. They watched the lights and fire as the fireworks exploded in the air in different colors. Quinn was smiling wider than ever, which made Jerome very happy to see, out of all the birthday gifts she has gotten this was the most special. They both looked at the lights on the dark sky and they both smiled.

Once it was over, Quinn threw her arms over Jerome and kissed him softly on the lips, and Jerome smiled softly at her, "Happy Birthday, Quinn!"

"Thank you Jerome, this is the best present ever!" Quinn exclaimed.

They left only when some of the circus people came to find who stole their material.


	8. Bitter Departing

**During the episode of Gotham 5x12, has anyone else heard Ecco call Jeremiah 'Daddy'? I was like, "Why did she call him daddy? I don't get that?" I don't want to give away too much for those who haven't seen it, but I will say I felt disturbed by that scene between Jeremiah and Ecco. I forgot to mention that in my Gotham Finale rant in my previous chapter. Also, did anyone else think Gotham Season 5 was a little rushed? Jeremiah Valeska was one of the best characters in Season 5, but they really didn't use him as much as I thought they would. Once again, what was the real point of him falling into the vat of chemicals? He remembers who he is and we all know that he is Jeremiah, so what was the point of him going into the chemicals other than to sport a new Joker look and for being nostalgic, which doesn't make sense, Jeremiah's story is so over the place that we would've been better off sticking with Jerome, the better Joker, it's just so forced and rushed.**

**Fun Fact: Quinn's favorite foods are Italian and Mexican, but she also loves Cajun and seafood.**

Bitter Departing

Haly's Circus was now in Gotham City, Jerome and Quinn were currently at the docks watching the boats come in at the harbor. As they were watching the boats Jerome noticed Quinn was being more quiet than usual.

"Quinn," Jerome said, "Is there something wrong?"

"No, of course not," Quinn said, not even looking at Jerome.

Jerome frowned, "Quinn, I know when you're lying to me."

Quinn sighed and confessed, "I'm sorry, it's just I was still thinking of when Molly and her stupid husband visited the circus, last month."

Before they arrived in Gotham, the circus was in Metropolis, which is when Quinn's older sister, Molly, visited the circus along with her boyfriend, now husband, Jordan. Quinn still resented her sister for not only the way she treated her, but also for her leaving the circus and moving in with Jordan. Quinn decided to avoid them whenever she could, which wasn't too much of a problem since she spend most of her time either doing her chores or with Jerome. But Quinn had a feeling something must've happen during the visit, did Molly or Jordan do something to upset her mother? Quinn didn't like the way Jordan was looking at her mother, which made her want to stay close to her for a while; she wasn't sure what happened, but she was worried that something bad was going to happen.

Jerome gently cupped her face in his hands, "Quinn, I know you're scared that something will happen to your mother, but if that pathetic creep your sister calls a husband was going to do something he would've done it already, besides your mom is a strong person, just like you are." Jerome then kissed both of her cheeks, which made Quinn blush.

"Yeah," Quinn replied with a small smile, "You're right, I guess I worry too much."

"Don't worry about it I still love you," Jerome grinned as Quinn rested her head on Jerome's shoulder and Jerome gently rested his head on Quinn's.

A few minutes later, the ringmaster showed up with a troubled look, "Quinn, Jerome."

"What is it, Ringmaster?" Quinn asked.

"I'm afraid, there's been an accident," the Ringmaster said sadly.

"What kind of accident?" Jerome frowned.

The Ringmaster told them that while everyone was practicing for the next act, Quinn's mother got critically hurt and had to be sent to the hospital and they weren't sure how bad it was; he then told her there was also a waiting taxi cab to take Quinn and Jerome to the hospital.

When they arrived at the hospital and found her mother's room, Quinn's heart felt like it was breaking into a million pieces as she saw her mother connected to all those wires and tubes. Quinn began to softly cry. Those cries soon took on an almost hysterical note at times, and Quinn choked on the wails with her sobs.

"Shh, shh, don't cry sweetie," Claire cooed weakly, while running her hand through her daughter's chocolate brown hair.

This only made Quinn cry harder. Her mother's voice grew weaker by the minute, as her body was becoming more tired.

"Don't die Mom. Please don't die. Don't leave me, Mama," Quinn begged as she sobbed hard.

"I could never leave you. I'll always be with you, even if I'm not," Claire said softly as moved her hand from her daughter's hair and took her hand into hers and gently rubbed it with her thumb.

"You and your father will be okay. I made sure…"

"Screw him!" Quinn shouted, and the doctors at the door flinched. "You still speak as if Dad is a good guy, and he's not even here with us! Instead he's at some stupid bar."

Claire sighed, "You have to understand your father was a different man when I married him. I met your father when I was sixteen. He was a good person, he just grew up in a bad home. I loved him, and he treated me like a queen. When I turned twenty and he was twenty-two, I got pregnant with your sister and when I was thirty-one and he was thirty-three, I got pregnant with you. You need to understand, Quinn, the world changes good people and not always for the better. I don't want that for you, but no matter what happens, I hope you know how much I love you."

"I-I love you too Mommy," Quinn said softly with fresh tears running down her cheeks.

Claire started coughing hard, and a little blood came out of her mouth.

"Help her! Someone please help her!" Quinn cried, and more doctors rushed inside, along with Jerome. Quinn wouldn't move from her mother's side, and Jerome had to wrap his arms around her waist and tug her away and out the room.

It wasn't long before one of the doctors stepped outside to announce that her mother was gone, and Quinn cried into Jerome's chest, as he gently stroked her hair and cooed her, he then used his other hand to gently rub her back.

When the funeral came a couple days later Quinn was very peeved that her sister hadn't showed up to their mother's funeral. _I know she's a selfish manipulative brat, but you would've thought she would at least come to Mom's funeral to say goodbye._ At least Jerome was there to keep her company and to help her through the day. But Quinn was curious as to why the coffin that had her mother's body in it was closed, not that she wanted to look at it, when she asked her father about it he said it was because he couldn't bare to look at his wife's corpse.

After the funeral, David pulled Quinn aside to tell that since her mother is gone, he thinks it would be best for her to be enrolled in school in Gotham. Of course Quinn knew David wanted to send her away, because he didn't care about her. He told her that he already got her a small apartment, with a bed and some furniture and told her that she was leaving tomorrow.

After that Quinn immediately went to find Jerome to tell him everything that happened. She found him at the petting zoo. Quinn ran to Jerome with tears flowing freely.

"Quinn, what's wrong?" Jerome asked in concern.

"It's my father, h-he's sending me away," Quinn cried, "He said he thinks now that my mom is dead sending me away to school here in Gotham would be good for me. But he didn't even ask me if I wanted to or what I thought about it. I don't want to go Jerome, I don't want to leave."

As Quinn was crying Jerome wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him.

"Shh, I know Quinn. It's okay Quinn," Jerome cooed, and Quinn answered with a choke cry, "Shh, it'll be okay. Hush, Quinn, you'll make yourself sick."

One of Jerome's hands began stroking her hair, while the other one was in favor of rubbing her back. Jerome continued to whisper soft words of encouragement to her. "It's okay Quinn. You're okay. That's it, breathe."

Soon Quinn's sobbing turned into quiet whimpers. "I'm sorry, Jerome. It's just I lost my mom already and now I'm going to lose you too."

"We will see each other again," Jerome promised as he held her close.

The next day, Quinn was saying goodbye to Jerome, but it was harder than ever.

"I'm sorry. Jerome, I'm so sorry," Quinn cried, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Jerome places both of his hands on her shoulders, a comforting smile on his lips, but it doesn't reach his eyes, as he replies, "It's okay, Quinn. Remember when we were kids, we both agreed that-"

"-if one of us gets out, we get out," Quinn finished.

"Exactly," Jerome says softly.

"B-But what about you?" Quinn asked, "We also said we would do everything we could to get the other person out."

"Don't worry about me Quinn, I'll be fine," Jerome assured her.

"No. I can't just leave you-"

Jerome put his hands on her shoulders and said, "You'll get an education here in Gotham, at least your parents care about you."

"You know that's not true, I only had Mom and now that she's gone, I know my father wants nothing to do with me, sending me away to school was probably the only thing he could do to get me away from him. I didn't expect him to buy me a small apartment though, let alone a bed and a few pieces of furniture with it. I think he must've used some of Mom's money that she left me, which wouldn't surprise me. God, I miss her terribly."

Quinn hugs Jerome, and cries into his shirt, "I'll come visit Jerome. I promise."

Jerome rubbed gentle circles into Quinn's back, "I know you will, Quinny."

Quinn rolls her eyes, "Jerome you know I hate that nickname."

"Of course I know," he laughs, but it hardly sounds genuine.

Quinn pulls away from him to pick up her suitcase full of her possessions off the ground.

"I think I should go now, the taxi cab is probably waiting." Quinn says sadly.

He nods, his eyes twinkling with only sadness, "Would you like me to walk you there?"

Quinn smiled sadly, "Sure."

When Quinn and Jerome got to the exit of the circus grounds they saw the waiting cab. Quinn turns to leave, only to feel his warm hand grab hers to spin her around.

"Jerome-" Quinn began.

Quinn stops when he places his lips on hers. It must've only lasted a few seconds, but it felt like they were standing there for a lot longer. Quinn didn't pull away for a while, and neither did Jerome. When Quinn finally does, she sees the smirk on his face, when she looks up at him, since he's still taller than her. _He's such a prick, but a cute prick, I'll say that for him._

"Stay safe, Quinny," he chuckles, "And have fun there, okay?"

"Staying safe I can do, ginger boy," Quinn declared, "But me having fun without you there? As if."

Jerome chuckled, but his laugh once again didn't sound genuine, "Goodbye Quinn."

"Goodbye Jerome," Quinn said sadly.

Quinn then opens the taxi door and puts her suitcase in first. When she gets in, it instantly starts to leave.

Jerome waves goodbye at Quinn and she sadly waves back. Even though she's far away, she could see the sad look in his eyes which makes the tears flow from her face.

**The next chapter is going to go straight into the Gotham plot, but I'm going to skip all the way up to 1x16 The Blind Fortune Teller.**


	9. Reunited by Murder

**Hello readers, I apologized for taking so long with updating my next chapter, but I was busy with a lot of things. Also when I tried uploading this chapter last month my laptop acting all weird.  
**

**Should I keep doing the fun facts or not?**

Reunited by Murder

With just under a year passing since Quinn was forced to leave Jerome at the circus, she hasn't been able speak with him much. Sure, they would phone call each other whenever they can, but his mother was never too keen on him borrowing the only phone between them to call Quinn.

One evening at her apartment, after Quinn finished her homework she decided to try and call Jerome. But, before she could even dial his number, someone else rings, on the other phone. Quinn quickly places her phone down the one in her hand, and makes her way to the other, which is attached to a wall in her apartment.

"Hello?" Quinn spoke quietly.

"Is this Quinn Young?" The voice answers, and she breathes a sigh of relief.

"Yes," Quinn answers, "Who is this?"

"This is the Gotham City Police Department, we have a young man down here claiming that he knows you," the operator explains, sounding utterly bored in fact Quinn swears she hears them yawning.

_Could it be __Jerome__?_ "Who is it?" I ask nervously, hoping that Jerome hasn't gotten himself into any trouble.

"His name is Jerome Valeska." _Shit._

"Is his mother with him?" Quinn asks, silently praying that she is, for once, hoping they'll see the bruises on his body. Maybe Jerome will finally tell them what she's been doing to him.

"No. I'm sorry to tell you that Lila Valeska was found dead late last night."

"_Oh_," is the only word that manages to run past her lips. Quinn honestly wasn't sad about it she always thought that woman was vile and cruel. But she hoped that Jerome is okay, it's still his mom, even if she was a bi*** to him.

"I'll be there soon," Quinn tells them, before hanging up. She first called a cab, and then she got ready to leave, and walked outside to where the cab was and took off for the GCPD.

When Quinn arrives, an officer is there to meet her. Quinn instantly takes quick strides toward Jerome as soon as she sees him. When Jerome sees her, he stands up and Quinn throws her arms over his shoulders. Jerome pretends to cry into her shirt.

"I'm so sorry Jerome," she says, but Jerome knows that she's not _really_ telling the truth. She was upset for Jerome, but Quinn hated his mother with a passion, but not as much as Jerome did.

For the first time in a while, Jerome had felt slightly guilty for lying to Quinn. When they were kids, whenever Quinn cried, Jerome would also cry himself, and whenever he cried, Quinn did too. _Who says girls don't like emotional boys? Quinny can sure do that. __That's why Jeremiah will never have a chance with her, that little four-eyed prick. _Jerome thought to himself.

"It's not your fault, Quinn," Jerome pulls away from her, and turns to the detective behind him, fighting the urge to smile at the sight of the girl he cares so much about.

"S-Sorry," Jerome mutters, faking a small smile as he speaks to the detective, "a friend of mine."

The detective nods, reaching out his hand towards Quinn, which she soon takes.

"I'm Quinn, Quinn Young," Quinn introduces herself.

"James Gordon," the detective introduces himself, "I've been told you've heard of the circumstances."

"Yes sir. I heard," Quinn says quietly.

"Do you have any idea who would kill Lila Valeska," Jim asked.

"Kill?" Quinn mumbled, "I-I thought she only died, like an accident or something. Nobody told me she was…murdered."

"Well I'm sorry to tell you that she was murdered," Jim glances at Jerome, and Jerome looks down pretending to cry.

"No, sir. I-I have no idea who would k-k-kill her," Quinn stutters.

"Can you two follow me please," Jim asked the two teenagers, "I just want to talk to you, mainly Jerome. But I think he might be more comfortable with you there Miss Young," Jerome nodded.

"Okay, James," Quinn replied.

"Just call me Jim, please," Jim told her.

"And you can just call me Quinn," the girl replied, "Hearing someone call me Miss Young makes me think of my teachers."

Quinn and Jerome then followed Jim to a small room where Jerome and Quinn sit down in the two chairs behind the desk while Jim sits down in another one on the opposite side of him.

"Tell me about your mother, Jerome," said Jim.

"She's my mother," Jerome sniffed. "What can I say? I love her. She's perfect... Not a very good cook, except for that."

Quinn held back a frown, what she just heard shocked her. Lila was anything but perfect. Quinn remembered when she still lived in the circus that Lila slept with almost all the grown males in the Circus, possibly including her own father too, and some other men in different cities they visited. Not to mention the constant times Lila was hurting Jerome.

"Did she have any enemies? Someone with a grudge?" Jim questioned.

"No," Jerome lied.

"Boyfriends?"

"No," Jerome replied.

"No?" Jim repeats, raising his eyebrow.

"She had lovers," Jerome admitted, "Sex partners, really. But not boyfriends, she didn't want the commitment."

"Alphonse Grayson?"

"Yes, he was one of them," Jerome held back a snarl at the mention of his name.

"Owen Lloyd?"

"Yes."

"Any others?" Gordon asked.

"Uh, not that I could put a name to."

"How did you feel about your mother's love life?" Jim questioned.

"I feel fine about it," Jerome noted Jim's uncertainty, so he continued. "If not for my mother's love life, I wouldn't be here, would I? Sex is a healthy human activity."

"... Yes, it is..." Gordon cleared his throat, "Do you have any other family?"

"The circus is my family," Jerome replied, shaking his head sadly. Quinn grabbed Jerome's hand and gave it a comforting squeeze.

"I think that's enough for today," Jim sighs, after a while.

"Thank you for your time," Jerome whimpers, standing up from his chair, and Quinn does the same.

"Yeah," Quinn says, "And Detective, if you ever need anything to help with the case, just call me again, okay? I gave you my number."

_So sweet. But I know she isn't doing this for my mother. Nope. She's doing this for me. It's a shame it won't really help. _Jerome thought to himself.

They walked out of the interrogation room, still holding hands. It's not long after that when they leave the police station.

"Are you okay Jerome?" Quinn asks with concern.

"Yeah," Jerome sniffs, avoiding Quinn's chocolate brown eyes. "She wasn't a great mom, but..."

Quinn pulls Jerome into a tight hug with one hand rubbing his back, "I know, Jerome. But she still was your mom, and was apparently m-murdered."

"No one deserves it," Jerome lies. _She pretty much deserved it._

"No, you're right," Quinn agreed.

They awkwardly move away from each other, both of them just wanting to stand there, still holding onto each other, in the cold, dark street.

"Do you want to grab something to eat or drink?" Quinn asks, her hand touching the back of her neck. She always did that when she's nervous or feeling unsure.

"Don't you have school tomorrow?" Jerome asks her, "You're going to need some sleep."

"No, tomorrow is a Teacher's Institute Day, which means no school for me," Quinn told him with a smile, "Besides I wouldn't be going to school anyway."

"Why?" A small smile is plastered on Jerome's face, as if he already knows the answer.

"Because I'm going to be with you, ginger nut," Quinn said, "Now, come on. I'm getting hungry."

She grabs his hand, pulling him over to a 60's diner that was called Jay's Drive In across the road from us. Jerome then suddenly feels a small amount of guilt hit him, right in the chest. If he were to get caught, what would Quinn think of him? She hates guns, knives, and murdering and had a sensitive stomach when it came to blood. Jerome shrugs off his feelings off as they step inside the diner, but still thought to himself. _I won't get caught. And even if I do, she'll understand, right? I don't even think I can convince myself._

Quinn smiles at Jerome warmly as they sit down, "Do you want a drink?" She asks, handing him the menu.

"I'll pay," Jerome responded.

"But do you have any money?" Quinn asked.

Jerome takes some money out of his pocket, showing it to Quinn.

"I can pay for half," she says.

"No you can't," Jerome chuckles.

"It's not right for me to let you pay for all of it," Quinn insisted.

"It's not very manly of me to make you pay," Jerome responded, pretending to flex his muscles. Jerome might've looked skinny, but he was actually stronger than most people think.

"I see, so you want to be a manly man," she laughs, "Fine, but tomorrow when we go out it's going to be my treat."

They spend a few hours at the diner, just talking about anything. Remembering when they were younger, or talking about what's happened since then. That's when Jerome realized he still felt the same about her, he always had a crush on her as a kid. Quinn was about a couple years younger than him, and they were born and raised in the circus. Quinn wasn't a part of any act, like her mother was, but to Jerome she was the most amazing person ever. They started to leave, after looking outside and seeing how dark it was. When they get outside, she stops walking and turns to me.

"Do you want to come to my apartment? I mean it's only a studio apartment, but there's enough room for both of us, you can sleep there, with me," she asks, and instantly blushes. "I-I didn't mean it like that. I mean, I have a couch, and I can sleep on it, or uh, it's up to you if you want to sleep on the couch or the bed."

Once again, Quinn places her hand on the back of her neck and her face becomes deep red and she looks down at the floor. Jerome grabs her waist, and pulls her closer to him, in response her cheeks go to a furious shade of red.

"I know what you meant, Quinny," Jerome smirks at her awkwardness.

"J-Jerome?" She stutters.

_Awww. She's so cute when she's like this._ Jerome thought and he nodded his head gently, telling her to continue.

"I've really missed you," Quinn confessed.

"I've missed you too, but we still talk to each other a lot," Jerome said.

"I know. It's just I missed us being together and spending time together, like, you know how it used to be back at the circus," Quinn explained, "We were with each other whenever we wanted to be, when nothing could get in the way."

"I know," Jerome said to her.

"I wish that-" Quinn started, but was interrupted.

Jerome gently places his lips on Quinn's, and she stops, she could feel Jerome smiling as they were kissing.

**AN: Jay's Drive In was one of my favorite restaurants that my mom and I would love to go to for lunch.**


	10. Christmas Chapter: Ice Skating

**Disclaimer: This chapter has nothing to do with the plot, as this chapter is set a little bit in the past, but soon you'll see what I mean. Merry Christmas to Everyone! **

Christmas Chapter: Ice Skating

It was Christmas and Haly's Circus was on the outskirts of New York. They decided to stay there during the holidays. With a lot of persuasion, Lila agreed to allow Jerome stay at Quinn's family's trailer for the day and the evening before. Needless to say Jerome and Quinn were extremely happy with that.

On Christmas morning, they had opened gifts around 8am. Jerome and Quinn were now looking outside watching the snow coming down.

"Ever skated before?" Jerome asked Quinn.

Quinn looks at him and shakes her head, "No, but I remember that I wanted to last year, but I couldn't because I had the flu."

"Well luckily I did go," Jerome said with a cocky smile, "So I can show you. Come on, let's go."

"Jerome, I don't have any skates," Quinn said.

Jerome smirked and then pulled out a pair of white ice skates, "Now you do."

Quinn stood up and smiled as she gave Jerome a hug and a kiss. Then she grabbed her jacket and ran outside. She then sat down on a wooden bench that was close to the lake that was nearby to put on her new skates. When she tried standing up she was getting wobbly and couldn't keep her balance and would've fell down if Jerome, who already had his skates on, hadn't caught her in his arms.

"Easy there Quinny," Jerome smiled, "You'll get the hang of it and I'll help you, so don't worry."

Quinn nodded as she skated around with Jerome, holding onto his hand tightly. After a while Jerome let go of her hand to let her try it on her own. Quinn managed to skate over to Jerome before she staarted slipping again and would've fallen on her butt if Jerome hadn't caught her arm in time.

"You okay, Quinny?" Jerome asked smiling.

"Yeah, nice catch," Quinn giggled, "This is fun."

"Merry Christmas Quinn," Jerome said.

"Merry Christmas Jerome," Quinn replied. Then they kissed.


	11. Blushing and Smiling

**I don't know when it will be the next time I upload, because ever since this quarantine started because of the Coronavirus, I've been trying to keep myself busy by writing stories and I'm currently working on writing new stories. Well here's the next chapter.**

Blushing and Smiling

Quinn woke up all of a sudden to feel her head resting on something she opened her eyes, letting them slowly adjust to the light pouring through her apartment window. She then sits up, only to realize that she's lying on her couch. Quinn then suddenly realizes a warm body is underneath her and two strong arms are wrapped around her. Quinn squirms a little, and looks up to see warm green eyes staring intently at her. Quinn feels her cheeks go warm, and Jerome grins at her.

"Sleep well?" Jerome asks softly.

"Yeah, did you?" Quinn asked still looking at Jerome. Jerome nodded. "But how come you didn't want to sleep in the bed? I said you could."

"I just thought you were lonely," Jerome answered innocently, then gives a mock pout, "Why? Didn't you like it?"

_Yes._

"I am **not **having this conversation with you," Quinn scoffs, raising her eyebrows in shock, but also in embarrassment.

Jerome laughs at her nervousness, causing her to try and get up. Jerome then put his arms over her stomach, pushing her back against his chest, locking her in place.

"Jerome-" Quinn started, but then she saw his hands dart to her ribs, and she started laughing.

"J-Jerome! S-Stop tickling m-me!" Quinn giggles, and surprisingly he does listen to her.

Quinn looks up at him to give a snarky comment, when he cupped her face, and gently pulls her towards him, and placing his lips on hers. Quinn slowly started kissing him back.

When it got to noon, Quinn and Jerome decided to go out to spend time together. They first decided to have a picnic in the park with the lunch Quinn made with the help of Jerome. When they found a good place, they sat down to enjoy a picnic of ham and cheese sandwiches, chips, potato salad, lemonade and chocolate chip cookies.

Quinn then decided to break the silence by asking Jerome a question, "Jerome?"

Jerome looked at her as he munched on a cookie, "Yes, Quinn?"

Quinn hesitated for a moment but then asked, "Now that your mother is dead, do you have any other reason to stay at the circus?"

Jerome frowned and then shook his head, "Not really. I never liked it there, but after you were sent away, everything got worse for me, I hated it even more," Jerome replied, with sadness in his voice.

Quinn wrapped her arms around Jerome to comfort him, "I'm sorry, Jerome, but maybe now you can be happy again. If you want you can live here in Gotham maybe with me. Your mother and my father can't stop us now. I mean I know I only live in a studio apartment, but there's room for both of us, I'm sure we can make it work."

Jerome smiled softly at Quinn then cupped her face in his hands and softly kissed her lips, "I think I would love that Quinny."

After they were done in the park, Quinn and Jerome gathered everything and went back to the apartment to drop off the picnic bag before going out again. They did a lot of walking around in the city, they did stop by Haly's Circus, but they didn't stay long. Quinn knew after her mom died, her father was planning on leaving the circus too, but he didn't want to deal with her, which was why he sent her to school and Gotham and got her a studio apartment. They also decided to go out for ice cream. Jerome, as usual, got Chunky Monkey and Quinn got a combination of Cotton Candy and Mint Chocolate.

Later that night, Jerome and Quinn were on the couch in Quinn's apartment, watching Beauty and the Beast with a bowl of popcorn. But after an hour or so into the movie, they were cuddling and snuggling under the blankets. Quinn was resting her head on Jerome and Jerome was stroking her hair soothingly, which was slowly lulling her to sleep.

Twenty minutes later, Jerome and Quinn both fell asleep. They were then awakened by the phone ringing.

Quinn yawns sleepily, "I better get that." Quinn tries to get up, but Jerome pulls her back down on the couch and wraps his arms around her.

"Oh just let it ring, Quinny," Jerome breathes on her ear, tickling her.

"Jerome it might be important," Quinn states, trying to ignore his intoxicating voice which hard for her to do.

Jerome groans, but then he reluctantly lets her go. Quinn hurried to the phone to pick it up before it stopped ringing

"Hello?" Quinn answers.

"Hello? Is this Quinn?" a woman's voice says.

"Yeah, I'm here," Quinn replies.

"This is the Gotham City Police Department," the lady said, "Is Jerome Valeska with you?"

"Yes, he is," Quinn answers.

"Both of you need to come down to the station because someone is going to speak to you both, regarding Lila Valeska."

"Oh. Okay," Quinn replies back. _That was sure quick. I hope they don't suspect me or Jerome._

"Thank you," she ends the call on me.

Quinn then feels Jerome snake his arms around her waist, which made her giggle softly. But she also noticed his shirt was off, the cuts and bruises lining his body, almost looking like a puzzle which was making her cringe. In some ways, Quinn was glad that Lila is dead, so that she can't hurt him anymore.

"Who was it?" He questions, drawing her eyes back up to his own.

"GCPD," Quinn answers him, "they want us to go down to the station, again."

Quinn notices Jerome's face fall slightly with worry in his eyes, as if remembering something.

"We didn't... y'know, do it," he points to the couch, where they fell asleep, "did we?"

Quinn's face turns a deep shade of red and stutters a little, "Uh I-I-I don't think so. Um, I mean, didn't we had our clothes on? But I like you, Jerome. I mean I like, like you. And I don't know if anything will ever change that."

Quinn's eyes dart to the floor. _Why did I have to make it so awkward?_ _Dammit, dammit, dammit. You prick, you stupid prick._

Keeping his hands around Quinn's waist, he pulls her closer to him, and she gives a little yelp of surprise.

"Quinn from the moment you gave me that birthday cake when I turned nine, I knew that I like liked you," he smirks.

"R-Really?" Quinn asked, with a small smile.

"Yes, and nothing ever changed since then," Jerome stated.

A smile plays out on Quinn's face with a blush. Jerome tries to kiss her, but Quinn puts a finger on his lips.

"We need to get dressed," Quinn tells him.

"I can help you undressed, if that'll help," Jerome suggests with a smile creeping on his face.

"Not funny Jerome!" Quinn scoffs, smacking his head playfully and pulling away from him, going the bathroom. _Everything feels... __perfect__. As if nothing could ever go wrong._

Quinn shut the bathroom door behind her, and quickly changes into a black shirt, red cardigan and black pants. _Nice enough, I guess._ Quinn opens the door, and Jerome is already dressed too and she walks up to him.

"Ready?" Quinn asked Jerome.

He nods, "Are we going to walk there?"

Quinn nods, "I don't have a car, so..."

"Oh, yeah, sorry, I forgot," Jerome said sheepishly.

Quinn and Jerome made their way down the stairs, until they got to the car park level. After ten minutes of talking, they arrive at the station. When they get inside an officer directs them towards the interrogation room.

"Gordon is already waiting for you inside," he says.

"Thank you," Quinn replies, and he walks away.

Quinn then takes Jerome's hand, and squeezes it and he looks at her with an awkward smile.

"It'll be fine," Quinn said, and Jerome nods.

They both step inside. The officer was right Detective Gordon is inside the room, but he wasn't alone.

**In the next chapter, Quinn learns the truth!**


End file.
